As a bit of change from the groovy movie scene, I want to take a moment to highlight the glory of the 1970’s rock and roll dynasty. I grew up in the 70’s and rock and roll were as important to me as bread and butter.  There were many great, great pieces that came from 70’s.  Listing the 12 rock anthems was tough, so much quality left behind and yet not that different from other such lists. So much for deviency.

They are in no order:

Dancing Queen: Poppy, gummy, chewy, yet deep, moving, and catchy. ABBA gets a lot of flak and suffered from vile comparisons. But they did so much great works.

Layla: Here’s a song to liven your day and spice your cider. Monumental and clashing, rip your heart out and dance around the fire. Classical Persia meets the English Midlands.

Woodstock (Matthew’s Southern Comfort): Nothing against CSN &Y. They are gods. But the MSC is so well underplayed, it beats the breakout version of CSN & Y.  I heard the MSC version long before I knew of CSN & Y attempt.

Hotel California: Playfully seductive lyrics and deeply sensual music score makes Hotel California the anthem of West Coast rock.

Dream On: Local boys with universal appeal. First time I heard it, it took days to even begin to grasp the vast richness of the song.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Elton John):  What a complete masterpiece. Hard to top the Fab Four. But this version only get more surreal.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Speaking of Sir Elton. Like his other works, he says so much and entertains with his musical acrobatics.

American Pie: Long, long time ago…the Americans can rock the stadium too. McClean’s opus almost stands alone for its epic grandeur.

Bohemian Rhapsody: Queen’s contribution to the world of earth shaking works. Not as direct as Dancing Queen or as contorted as Lucy in the Sky, it carries the listener away, the place depending on substances ingested.

Stairway to Heaven: The only Zep tune I could grasp as a teen. Every body’s favorite, and for good reason. A brief pitch for Kashmir, it has taken 25 years to appreciate Led Zeppelin’s other works.

Imagine: One frienddescribes it as a communist manifesto. Yes, it is left of center. But never has a protest song been so soothing. Just a sliver more “hard” then MSC’s Woodstock.

and finally

Born to Run: The song that forced the top ten list to be top 12. Just about the best song to describe the uncertain times and wild love that describe the 70’s.

Based on a novel by Anton Chekhov and set in modern day Russia, this is the story of two Russian soldiers captured by break away mountain people aka Chechens.  One soldier is a crusty, cynical old soldier, the other is young, naive and scared.  The story centers around their confinement and the actions that result from the capture.  The ending is perhaps the best in cinema.  But the movie is loaded with greatness, conflict, abrupt twists, and some real top notch scenery footage.  It was filmed 50 miles away from where this same war was being fought (and is still I think). It was good enough for a Cannes.  And welcome to the Caucuses.

This category in this blog isan for wayward works, works that flirt with  timeless dribble and jaw dropping uselessness. “Au Pair Girls” is a product of the go-go sixties (made in 72′), shamelessly peachy with that lightheaded soundtrack that splices racy lightly sung lyrics with an aimless jazzy rift.  Music for those to drive over cliffs. 

Now this was one of my first dvds, and a gift.  And there is talent within—Trevor Bannister and Harold Bennett of Are You Being Served fame.  John Standing from Rogue Male playing the swarthy (older) Brit brings snobbish class to the picture.  The rest of the cast, be they tea and crumpet Brits like Roger Avon and Ferdy Mayne, or Astrid Frank and Me Me Lai make this romp film very international, if pretty devoid of talent.  This is a silly, silly movie with breast and buffoonery, both lighthearted and very lightheaded.

Here are some more to add to the list (DVDs, unless noted):

Amazon Gift Certificate

Stalag Kuft

Ludwig

Black Coffee

Fall of Eagles

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

The Sea Wolves

As Far as My Feet will Carry Me

Submarine X-1

The Blockhouse

Wagner

Masada

The Hallelujah Trail

Reptillicus

Many Thanks,

Drew

Historical drama, love story, one man against the system, killer music and vast scenery.  This true story is set in Inner Mongolia during the 30’s.  The world is slowly losing sense and going to total war.  But here in the vast and wide grasslands, the locals seek only peace and raising families with honor. Gada Meilin is the title character who was drawn into a local land war over regional loyalties and with international implications.  Too few movies of this quality and grasp of history made its way to the West prior to the advent of Amazon and Netflix.  This movie has some over acting, but not enough to take away from the sweep of the story and its relevenance.  There are those that do and die and those that nothing and still die.

This movie has won awards.  The Beijing Forbidden City Film Company produced it.  And the music was performed by Tang Ga-al, Mongolian superstar. Filmed on location.

Hey guys. Below is a list (as of 11/8/08) wish list DVDs.  No particular order.

Peking Opera Blues

PT-109

Picnic at Hanging Rock

The Longest Hatred

Civil War (Ken Burns)

Jinnah (1998)

Battle of Neretva

Screamers

Cobra Verde

Fitzcarraldo

Operation Thunderbolt

Hell Drivers

Rat Patrol: Complete Seasons

Escape to Athena

Human Condition: I, II, III

Hill “Halfon” Doesn’t Answer

Crucible of Empire: The Spanish-American War

Here’s another “minor” actor with major appeal.  Maybe its his cool demeanor, or perhaps its his associations, but he holds the scene with great dignity and poise.  As a bonus John Leyton was a rising young singing sensation in Britain before slipping into films.  The Rolling Stones were an opening band for him.  But on with the films.  He is best known and found himself playing imprisoned British soldiers.  He scored at the first stop with The Great Escape where he played Willy the Tunnel King opposite Charles Bronson.  His next movie Guns at Batasi where his character Private Wilkes made love to Mia Farrow and deftly worked under Dicky Attenborough all while “imprisoned” in the Sargent’s Mess in an African nation gone apart.  The movie is as much a vast geopolitcal statement as it is a rank and order study of changing times.  The final movie John graced worth mentioning is von Ryan’s Expresswhere his character Orde dutifully carried out orders as the prisoners ride the rails to freedom or death.  Here John played abreast Trevor Howard and Frank Sinatra.  Not bad for a kid from the islands.

The Sino-Japanese War 1931-1945 was long, hard, and not that well known in the West.  But the People’s Republic has made many a film on the subject.  There are three movies in particular that reflected the brave and creative way the Chinese fought against long odds.  Red Sorghum is a love story with a helping of Japanese soldiers on the side.  The locals take it to the Japanese in the sorghum fields.  The realism is strong.  And the price of success is dear.  Less well known are two Red Movies Studios movies best described as “Ways to Whack the Japanese”.  The Japanese are ruthless, stupid, and bad shots.  The Chinese are bold, brave, and better shots.  The movies speak for themselves…The Warfare of Landmine and Tunnel Warfare.  Both have historical basis, but with poetic license.  Watched together, you gain an appreciation on why the Chinese are as great as they proudly claim.

Red China made many movies to glorify the Japanese War 1931-1945.  Full of drama and rousing music, these movies made the most to demonize and denigrate the Japanese.  One such movie–The Warfare of Landmine–pivots on a central theme–landmines.  The Chinese were poorly equipped, but very creative.  In this movie the Chinese beat the Japanese by landmines.  It gets a bit far fetched, but there is no shortage of landmines.  It is a different kind of war movie, seldom seen or appreciated here.

Also known as Indignes, this movie is about a band of brothers (to use the vernacular) from French North Africa.  These colonial native villagers turned soldiers fight for France and freedom–neither of which they have seen.  They bond as they battle.  They face the Germans as well as prejudice from their own side.  Yet whatever their motivations and fates, they not only struggle, but force the viewer to see that racial and political dirty laundry were not strictly Nazi.